The goal of this presentation is to report the results of three separate but complimentary continuous course improvement analyses.

The first analysis used the RISE Framework, an OER learning analytics methodology, to identify resource pages in an OER course that merited additional evaluation. This type of analysis has previously been conducted at the course level, and we expand on that analysis by conducting the analysis at the student level.

The second analysis used exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA/CFA) to identify how well the assessment items for each outcome in the course actually measure the same outcome. CFA was used first to find excellent, good, and poor fitting models. Then, we used EFA to assess the poor fitting models to determine if any changes should be made to improve the model fit for each outcome.

The third analysis used item response theory (IRT) within each outcome to compare item difficulties. Items that were too easy or too hard could be removed from the assessment so the assessment better measures student content mastery. These items could also be flagged for review to be improved for future course iterations.

These three analyses provide examples of the continuous course improvement work possible in OER courses. These analyses are particularly helpful in OER contexts because the content licenses allow changes to be made that would not be possible in copyrighted content found in traditional courses.

I've spent the last 19 years creating, clarifying, elaborating, and evangelizing the core ideas of open education to students, faculty, institutions, companies, and governments. I've also worked to place a solid foundation of empirical research beneath these core ideas. Now, my c... Read More →